An ongoing stand-off between an elite force of Iraq's national army and Kurdish Peshmerga forces around the contested northern city of Kirkuk led to skirmishes that left two dead and several wounded at the village of Tuz Khurmatu this week. The army's Dijla (Tigris) Operations Command (DOC), launched in June by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, was ostensibly sent to put down the remnants of insurgency in Diyala, Kirkuk and Salahaddin governates. But local Kurdish leadersincluding Kirkuk governor Najmaddin Karim, of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)charge that the real aim of the deployment is to prevent Kirkuk governate from be annexed by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), now made up of the governorates of Erbil (also Arbil or Irbil), Slemani (Sulaymaniya) and Duhok. (See map.) A referendum on the future of Kirkuk, mandated by Aritcle 140 of Iraq's constitution, has been repeatedly put off by the central government.

Rawand Mala Mahmoud, deputy head of the PUK's Kirkuk office, said: "Dijla Command is an effort to re-Arabize the area and to expand the authority of the Iraqi Army in Kirkuk." Iraq's President Jalal Talabani, who is also longtime boss of the PUK, has left Baghdad and returned to Sulaimani in protest of Malikis actions. He questions the legality of the Dijla Command, noting that Maliki did not seek parliamentary consent for its creation, as mandated by the constitution. Thousands of Peshmarga troops have been dispatched to Kirkuk governate following the deployment of the Dijla force.

The other major political faction in the KRG, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), has pledged unity against Maliki's move. But Maliki's advisor Ali Musawi questioned the legality of the Peshmerga deployment in the disputed area: "If the DOC is unconstitutional, then let His Excellency Talabani resort to constitutional methods to stop it."

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani and US ambassador to Iraq Robert Beecroft discussed the recent tensions between Erbil and Baghdad in a meeting early Sunday.

In the talks, Barzani stressed Kurdistan&#8217;s commitment to dialogue and a peaceful solution to tensions sparked by the deployment of Iraqi troops in the disputed territories.

&#8220;Kurdistan&#8217;s political leaders have always believed that these problems can only be solved through dialogue,&#8221; Barzani said. &#8220;Therefore we will spare no effort to find a peaceful solution.&#8221;

Barzani said that a Kurdish delegation from the Ministry of Peshmerga was in Baghdad last week to negotiate with the Iraqi government on the subject of the Dijla forces. He said that initially positive progress was made, but that Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had rejected the delegation&#8217;s recommendations for peace.

Erbil-Baghdad tensions have been high over the past few weeks after Kurdistan&#8217;s leaders reacted angrily to Maliki&#8217;s decision to deploy his Dijla forces in areas south of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. Kurdistan&#8217;s leaders sent in thousands of their own Peshmerga forces armed with heavy weaponry into the disputed areas.

&#8220;We will not accept those areas to be ruled one-sidedly by Iraq,&#8221; Barzani said in his meeting with the US ambassador.

The autonomous region&#8217;s oil and gas policy also were among topics discussed by the Kurdish premier and the US ambassador.

&#8220;We run our oil policy based on the Iraqi constitution,&#8221; Barzani said. &#8220;We are using our constitutional rights.&#8221;

Baghdad opposes most of Kurdistan&#8217;s oil deals with foreign companies and has threatened in the past to blacklist multinationals like Exxon Mobil from operating in the center and south of Iraq unless they cancel their contracts with Erbil.

Currently close to 50 foreign companies, among them France&#8217;s Total and Russia&#8217;s Gazprom, are operating in the Kurdistan Region.

In his meeting with Barzani, the US ambassador said that his government respects Erbil&#8217;s oil deals with foreign companies and that he hoped all tensions are resolved peacefully.

Land belongs to nobody, your ancestors may have left it to you, but they are not here to help you declare or claim it as your own, good luck on that.
Don't just cry about this to other countries, make your stand and don't be a bitch about it.
You should also consider to make a move on your attackers oil if you win.
I sincerely wish you good luck.

Land belongs to nobody, your ancestors may have left it to you, but they are not here to help you declare or claim it as your own, good luck on that.
Don't just cry about this to other countries, make your stand and don't be a bitch about it.
You should also consider to make a move on your attackers oil if you win.
I sincerely wish you good luck.

Click to expand...

Don't worry about us mate, we already have forces deployed in ALL disputed areas. If that retarted iraqi excuse for an army dares to move in, they will all be slaughtered and left in massgraves. It's to late for them, south (Iraqi) Kurdistan is about to declare independence, and all they can do is go crying to their masters in Iran.
That reminds me, Iran is about to get destroyed too!

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region  With Erbil-Baghdad tensions high over troop deployments in disputed territories, Kurdish MPs in the Iraqi parliament warned of war, and a senior commander of Kurdish Peshmerga forces said he has 30,000 armed men deployed and ready for orders.

The tense stand-off of the past two months was triggered after Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki moved his controversial Dijla forces into disputed territories that are also claimed by the autonomous Kurds, who dispatched their own Peshmerga fighters into the areas.

The current situation will end in a conflict, Hakim Sheikh Latif, a Kurdish MP in the Iraqi Parliament, told Rudaw.

Latif, from the Change Movement, said he has written to Kurdish politicians, warning them of the upcoming dangers and informing them about his predictions of war.

In an interview with Rudaw four months ago, Latif predicted that, Within a year the Iraqi government will wage a war against the Kurds.

Observers say the tensions are the worst since the Kurds gained autonomy, following Iraqi dictator Saddam Husseins fall in the 2003 US-led invasion.

Latif urged Kurdish Region President Massoud Barzani to seek outside help to defuse the crisis, warning that if the United States and neighboring Iran did not pressure the Iraqi government, The tensions will transform into an armed confrontation.

Now, the Kurds are on the verge of an imposed war. Maliki has mobilized forces and wants a war. Therefore, President Massoud Barzani must knock on the doors of the US, Iran and other regional powers, Latif said.

I have said this before, and I am repeating it now: Nuri al-Maliki intends to establish his army units in Qushtapa, Faida, and Bani Maqan, the former Iraqi regimes frontlines with the Kurdistan Region, Latif added.

Earlier this month, Maliki told reporters that if another war erupted in Iraq, it would be between the Arabs and Kurds.

Meanwhile, a senior Peshmarga commander on the frontlines of the stand-off, told Rudaw that his forces stand ready for orders.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said that, More than 30,000 Peshmerga troops are deployed in the area. The Iraqi armys weapons capability does not equal those of the Peshmerga forces.

He said it was better for the Peshmerga forces to strike now, because Baghdads forces were still uncoordinated in the disputed areas, but that Maliki was trying to recruit former officers of Saddams Baathist regime.

Maliki is recruiting the former Baathist army officers. He is trying to rebuild the army with the Iraqi officers who have experience in fighting Iran, Kuwait, and the US army. Some of them are quite experienced, he said.

For the Kurds, now is the best time to start the war. If the war is started now, Peshmerga forces will clear all the disputed areas within three days, and then we can draw a red line.

Moayad Teyib, spokesman of the Kurdish coalition in Iraqs parliament, criticized Maliki, saying he has closed all doors to negotiations.

He said that Malikis recent statements had convinced Kurdish leaders that, Negotiations with Maliki are no longer possible.

Teyib also warned that the present tensions could escalate into a war.

A breakout of war is possible. We live in Iraq and have had bitter experiences with this country. When the political process reaches a stalemate, they transform to armed conflict, he said.

Iraqi analyst and politician Hassan Allawi, an Arab and independent member of the Iraqi parliament, said recently that a conflict between the Arabs and Kurds would likely be on a small scale.

There might be a war between the Peshmerga forces and the Iraqi army. But the fight will be on a small scale -- here and there, he said.

Allawi said that Maliki dispatched his Dijla forces into the disputed territories as a reaction, a revenge to the current years April attempts to remove him from office, which were initiated in Erbil, and headed by Barzani.

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